Ambition is a strong source of hope and strive for many people, and this ambition can lead to both good and bad results. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare shows how the main character, Macbeth, and his strong ambitions can be led astray by outside forces as well as his own feelings for greatness. In the play, Macbeth is a strong warrior that is respected by all, but throughout the play, he is influenced by the evil around him and ultimately turns into an ambitious monster that craves power as well as the throne. Through his ambitions, Macbeth turns corrupt and slowly becomes so evil that even his guilt feeds his ambitions. Ambition can be a good sense of strive, but when influenced and supported by the wrong people, it can also be used as a
Many people make big mistakes while under bad influence in power. Some become corrupt, some cave into the pressure, and some just straight up ignore their problems and run away. Macbeth on one hand caved under pressure and killed a man's family in fear of losing the throne and on the other hand completely corrupted himself to become king. People are probably wondering what possibly could have caused him to go mad. The answer is clear. Macbeth's faith in apparitions ultimately lead himself to his defeat, demise and his departure from existence. William shakespeare's Macbeth is about how a good loyle subject can become corrupt power hungry man forcing himself to do the unimaginable. Apparitions are what the future holds for someone. They tell
When in a relationship, one's quest for power, can result in an endless effort to satisfy this desire, producing a tragic outcome. In the tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare explores how greed and ambition has an influence on one’s actions, leading to the occurrence of a tragedy. In the case of Macbeth, greed and ambition results in Macbeth becoming a highly manipulative, and dangerous individual. The dominant status Lady Macbeth owns, allows her to influence Macbeth into committing harmful acts. When Lady Macbeth’s dominant status begins to deteriorate, Macbeth begins to mature, gradually becoming the more dominant individual within their relationship. When Macbeth has “fully matured” he is able to make his own decisions, without the persuasion
Macbeth foresaw only gain for betraying his friends and king. However, the consequences betraying and murdering his friend banquo haunt him, “Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that which might appall the devil” (III.iv.71-72). Macbeth’s conscience haunts him for he knows murdering Banquo was wrong. To highlight the consequences of betrayal and greed Shakespeare haunts Macbeth with grotesque reminders of his crimes to tell the reader that one should not take actions one cannot live with. Additionally, Lady Macbeth’s participation in the murder of King Duncan drives her insane,”Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!”(V.i.37). Lady Macbeth's call to demons to fill her soul with evil did not protect her from the from the consequences of her actions. The decay of Lady Macbeth’s sanity is Shakespeare's warning to the audience not to act out of selfishness for one cannot see the consequences in store when one acts rashly for self
When ambition is overlooked, it has the ability to become extremely dangerous. Macbeth from Shakespeare is a clear example of this. As he rises to power, he becomes more and more of a threat to those around him, killing those he was once loyal to. Destruction when ambition goes unchecked is present throughout the play because of Macbeth’s strong desires that ultimately lead to the deaths of Duncan, Banquo, and nearly Macduff.
Both greed and power, if not controlled, can lead to destruction. Throughout William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses both characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to demonstrate how ambition can change one’s personal relationships. As in the beginning of Act 1, Scene 7 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do not share the same ambition, and it is because of this that their relationship lacks love and affection however through the use of persuasion and other means, Lady Macbeth is able to get Macbeth to pursue her ambition. This not only changes their relationship drastically but it also changes Macbeth’s attitude towards ambition.Throughout the play, Shakespeare shows us through Macbeth, the possibility for ambition to eventually turn into greed and how the lust for power may corrupt us. This type of sentiment can be seen when Macbeth says “ Bloody instructions,being taught, return to plague the inventor” (Act 1, scene 7). Here, with the use of personification, we can see that Macbeth is wrestling with his ambition, as he is still toying with the idea of whether to kill Duncan or not. Macbeth is aware that murdering Duncan is bad and could eventually lead to even more bloodshed, he is also aware that murdering Duncan could ruin his honor which he greatly values. Macbeth states that Duncan is a good man and a good king, and from this he decides that ambition is not enough to justify the possible regicide of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand will do anything to pursue
Throughout the play Macbeth there are plenty of examples of corruption of power, the character that shows corruption of power the most in the play is Macbeth. Throughout the play, you can see Macbeth get greedier for power and as you continue reading the play you can see Macbeth's thirst for power. Macbeth kills the king so he could be next in line to become king, he kills Banquo, his companion, to cover his tracks of killing the king so Banquo could not get suspicious about the death of Duncan. The final example of corruption of power is when Macbeth gets the power of being king he leads troops into a battle he believes he can’t lose.
People’s views of Heaven and Hell can change their beliefs of Trust and Betrayal. The idea common concepts for people is that: If the person wants to go to Heaven they shouldn’t betray people and should be trustworthy while if they betrays someone they are likely to get thrown in Hell. In Macbeth, most characters try to avoid damnation by remaining trustworthy. While throughout the play, Macbeth exhibits choices and unlawful actions that are against his moral and virtues. This opens the door to Hell and closes the one to Heaven. Theses choices reflect on his thoughts about trusting someone but, then betraying them at the end.
The namesake of the play, “Macbeth” is a man who faced a decision between his own personal passion and his moral obligations and duties. The two choices pulled at him and seemed to torment him even after he made a decision. Through the conflict that Macbeth felt because of his decisions, the reader can better empathize with him, and can obtain a more profound lesson from the story concerning decisions between personal passions and moral obligations.
The setting of isolation is present within the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The two authors create the setting of isolation which impact certain characters in the written pieces. The setting of East Egg, in The Great Gatsby, and the setting of Inverness, in Macbeth, represent power and corruption. F. Scott Fitzgerald incorporates the setting of isolation in East Egg that affects characters in The Great Gatsby, such as Daisy Buchanan, East Egg residents, and Tom Buchanan. Shakespeare also uses the setting of isolation in Inverness to develop characters in Macbeth, which include Lady Macbeth, the upper class, and Macbeth. Both authors use the
In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth believes he will be king. The power he thinks he will have causes him to kill the people who stand in his way
How can society advance peace when one tyrant wants to use pure evil as persuasion? In the play Macbeth (written by Shakespeare) and the acts of Osama Bin Laden, one statement that is heard from everyone is that “one must fall, for others to progress”. Macbeth and Osama Bin Laden both rose to power through intimidation and pure violence. Both political leaders had no limits to how far they’d use violence in order to obtain a certain status or objective. In this analysis, the reader will able to see how history repeats itself through the actions that take place before/during their rise to power, the influence they had on other people, and most of all, how they’re downfall saved society. Many people say that a person’s past is what defines their
Often times in literature, the downfall of a character arises due to both external and internal forces. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare demonstrates that the downfall of Macbeth arises due to both internal and external forces, but among the two, internal forces have a greater influence on the outcome. The forces of Macbeth’s own nature, the supernatural and Lady Macbeth all contribute to his downfall but the true deciding factors are the forces within.
Macbeth does not show mercy towards the king when the he cries, “I have done the deed. / Didst thou not hear a noise” (II.ii.14). He finally succeeds in his crime and murders King Duncan in this quotation. His act is unforgiving as it is immoral. Not only did he kill a country’s beloved king, he killed a father of two sons. Likewise, he begins to act upon his suspicions towards Banquo when he states, “With barefaced power sweep him from my sight / And bid will avouch it, yet I must not, / For certain friends that are both his and mine, / Whose loves may I not drop, wail his fall / Who I myself struck down” (iii.i.122-26). Macbeth shows how he betrays his own best friend and sends out assassins to have Banquo dead. The development of this trait is on account of his greed for power. Despite already murdering Duncan horridly, he becomes unmerciful as his greediness comes in the way of his morals. In conclusion, the mercy he does not show contributes to the factors that lead to his
In William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare introduces us to a man on a mission to assassinate the reigning king of Scotland, King Duncan. Through King Duncan, Shakespeare reveals Macbeth’s crude and unfiltered nature while capturing every second of Macbeth’s sadistic plan. With the use of paradox, internal character struggles, and the idea of fate, Shakespeare provides insight on what madness Macbeth created and the effect his madness has on other characters.